Human Emperor Jiang May Be Cultivating the Demonic Path

Human Emperor Jiang... May Be Cultivating the Demonic Path

Jiang Li understood what was going on. The Jiang Family wanted to borrow the banner of his name, yet did not dare fabricate a direct close connection to him, so they merely gave others the impression that they were closely connected to him.

"You said earlier that the missing children had something to do with Human Emperor Jiang. What is that about?"

The middle-aged man's smile faded, and his expression turned grave. He did not want to say more to Jiang Li. He even released the pressure of the Golden Core Stage, hoping Jiang Li would back down in the face of difficulty. In his eyes, Jiang Li was merely a little fellow at a few levels of the Qi Refining Stage.

As a Golden Core elder, he needed to make this little fellow retreat in the face of difficulty and keep him from getting involved in this dangerous incident.

"Do not discuss this matter. It is very dangerous for you!"

To his surprise, Jiang Li restrained his power to the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm and released his own pressure as well.

"I would like to see what danger there could be."

"Na-Nascent Soul Realm..."

This matter was clearly connected to Jiang Li, and the middle-aged man also misunderstood him. If he revealed his true identity, the man would be even less likely to tell the truth. Thus, Jiang Li chose to disguise himself as a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator. The Nascent Soul Realm was not considered terribly strong, but it was enough to suppress the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man hurriedly bowed. "So you are a Nascent Soul Realm senior. Yuan Wu Xing failed to recognize a True Person."

Cold sweat streamed down Yuan Wu Xing's face. Who could have imagined that the indignant youth he had casually stopped by the roadside would be in the Nascent Soul Realm? He looked like a youth, but perhaps he was some old monster who had lived for centuries. Although his earlier conduct had not been disrespectful, it would be terrible if this senior happened to be petty.

In Yuan Wu Xing's eyes, Nascent Soul Realm cultivators were already exceedingly formidable. There were only a few in all of Qing City, and even the Qing City Lord was merely at the Nascent Soul Early Stage.

"Enough. I do not blame you. Can you tell me about the missing children now?"

Jiang Li withdrew his pressure and asked calmly.

After a bout of struggle, Yuan Wu Xing finally steeled himself and said, "Senior, can you swear to Heaven that this matter will not be spread?"

The path of cultivation emphasized following the Heavenly Dao, so swearing to Heaven was no small matter. Most cultivators believed that if they broke their oath, the punishment they declared when swearing would come to pass.

Without hesitation, Jiang Li raised two fingers and said solemnly, "I swear to Heaven that there will be no third person who learns of what Yuan Wu Xing tells me next. Should I break this oath, may the Ascension Tribulation punish me!"

Yuan Wu Xing was filled with solemn respect. That was an extremely severe punishment. If the oath were broken, one would face the Ascension Tribulation, which was certain death for a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

Of course, he did not know that Jiang Li would have loved nothing more than to undergo the Ascension Tribulation a few more times.

"Senior, please come to my humble home for a while."

Yuan Wu Xing invited Jiang Li back to his home and skillfully laid down several layers of Formations. After thinking it over, he gritted his teeth and crushed a precious jade, setting up another Formation that even Nascent Soul Realm cultivators could not probe through.

Yuan Wu Xing brewed a pot of fine tea he had kept in reserve. He poured Jiang Li a cup first, then poured one for himself.

"This matter began ten years ago. Back then, I was already at the peak of the Golden Core Stage, with only a thin membrane separating me from the Nascent Soul Realm. Yet after twenty years, I still had no clue how to pierce through that membrane. Unable to find the method of breakthrough, I came to Qing City in search of the spark of inspiration needed to advance."

"Not long after arriving in Qing City, I discovered that someone had lost a child. I enjoy helping others, so I wanted to lend them a hand. Who would have thought that after investigating, I found the matter was far from simple? It was enough to make one's hair stand on end. It was not merely recent years that children had gone missing. For over two hundred consecutive years, children had often vanished from Qing City and several nearby cities—and every one of them was an infant less than a year old!"

"I also discovered that the times when children disappeared were very similar to the Jiang Family's ancestral rites. The more frequently the Jiang Family held their ancestral rites, the more frequently children vanished. So I investigated the Jiang Family and found that they truly were the ones stealing children. I once overheard a conversation between the Jiang Family head and the city lord. The Jiang Family had colluded with every successive Qing City Lord to suppress news of the missing children. At first, the Qing City Government still sent people to put on a show of searching for the children. But in the last two years, they could not even be bothered to pretend. They simply claimed they lacked manpower and would not search! A pack of bastards!"

As Yuan Wu Xing spoke to this point, the veins on his forehead bulged wildly. He crushed the teacup in his hand with force.

"The Jiang Family has the Human Emperor backing them. If I rashly revealed this matter, the one who would suffer would not be the Jiang Family, but me!"

"We must find solid evidence and make it public. Then, even if the Human Emperor came in person, he could not stop the voices of the masses!"

Jiang Li was silent for a moment before asking, "What does the Jiang Family want with these infants?"

"This..." Yuan Wu Xing hesitated. "...I do not know. Perhaps they use them to refine magical artifacts."

Jiang Li stared into Yuan Wu Xing's eyes, his voice incomparably stern. "You are lying. What are you afraid of?"

Yuan Wu Xing's scalp went numb beneath his gaze. "Senior, this truly cannot be spoken of. Whoever speaks of it dies!"

Jiang Li took a jade token from his Storage Ring. The front bore the words "Dao Sect," while the back depicted a constantly rotating Taiji symbol. The entire jade token was seamless, as though it had not been carved at all, but instead formed by the uncanny craftsmanship of nature.

"What about now?"

Yuan Wu Xing's eyes widened as he stared at the token in disbelief. Even his lips trembled, as though he were frightened upon seeing a great figure, yet also excited at the sight of dawn.

"The Dao Sect Token! You are the Dao Sect Emissary!?"

The Dao Sect Token—seeing this token was like seeing the Dao Sect Master himself.

Those who possessed a Dao Sect Token were either other Tribulation Transcendence cultivators or Dao Sect Emissaries. It was said that there were no more than five in existence, and this Nascent Soul Realm senior before him clearly belonged to the latter.

This man was probably not the sort of centuries-old old monster Yuan Wu Xing had imagined, but a cultivation genius who had reached the Nascent Soul Realm at around twenty years of age! Jiang Li nodded. "My name remains unchanged whether I stand or sit. I am Zhang Li, the current Dao Sect Emissary."

Jiang Li had hastily made up a name and identity for himself. Given his relationship with the Dao Sect Master, the other man would not blame him.

"So you are the Dao Sect Emissary. And I actually made you swear, th-this..."

Yuan Wu Xing was so excited that he could barely speak coherently. The Dao Sect Emissary was the undisputed next Dao Sect Master, a future top-tier great cultivator. As the oldest sect, the Dao Sect had existed even longer than the Human Emperor Palace. Immortals had emerged from it time and again, and its foundations ran deep. It was one of the few forces unafraid of the Human Emperor Palace.

Of course, all of that was on the premise that Jiang Li, the strongest Human Emperor in history, was excluded.

With the Dao Sect Emissary involved in this matter, their chances of bringing down the Jiang Family were even greater!

Delight showed plainly on Yuan Wu Xing's face. He silently recited the Heart Cleansing Art several times before barely calming himself.

"The reason I did not dare speak was because I feared implicating Senior Zhang. Human Emperor Jiang might kill the two of us to silence us over this matter. But since Senior Zhang is the Dao Sect Emissary, I presume you do not fear the Human Emperor."

"Human Emperor Jiang... may be cultivating the Demonic Path!"

Yuan Wu Xing lowered his voice to an extreme, as though the Human Emperor would hear him if he spoke even slightly louder.

After saying this, he watched Jiang Li, hoping to see terror or horror on his face. Yet the other man looked utterly unconcerned, with even a faint hint of amusement in his expression.